Who I am
I'm Paul Richardson. Most people online know me as "Techboy". A colleague at Barclays Bank started calling me that years ago, and the name stuck.
I'm a geek and always have been. By day I work in SAP. In the evenings I build websites and small software products. In between I'll happily fiddle with any gadget that has a battery in it.
Rebecca
Rebecca and I met in 2012 at an Indian restaurant in Coventry, and we got married in 2020.
She's the creative one in the house. Through her businesses, Great To Say and Cornish Flora, she handmakes cards, natural soaps, bath bombs and room sprays, drawing on her background as an occupational therapist and herbologist. She's also in the film Gladiatress, which makes her the only film star in the family.
Family
We have a son, James, and a daughter, Sophie. Our two cats, Molly and Pickles, are the ones really in charge.
Most weekends are about family days out, and there's always somewhere new to try. My brother Kevin has been my partner in crime on plenty of website projects over the years (see Projects). He also came along to the occasional track day.
Milton Keynes
Milton Keynes is home. I went to school here at Bury Lawn School, studied at De Montfort University's Milton Keynes campus, and I've worked here too.
Over the years it's been my running track (many laps of Willen Lake), my mountain-biking patch and the home of Collectormania.
Growing up with computers
My first machines were an Atari with cartridges and pull-out joysticks, then a ZX Spectrum (my dad brought one home), a Commodore 64 and an Amiga 500. I built my first PC when I was around 14 and I've been building them ever since.
I got my first modem for Christmas 1995 and built the first version of this site in 1996.
How I like to work
I like things that are quick and easy to manage, which is exactly why this site is small. I'm a big fan of remote working, as I get far more done with fewer interruptions.
If you've read this far, you now know more about me than most of my LinkedIn connections.